(I guess you might argue that effect/affect may or may not be orthographical.)

"In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. Linguists do not normally use the term to refer to orthographical rules."

mr_a:I used to think this, but after spending decades reading business documents of one form or another, I am no longer convinced.

My 8th grade teacher would have refused to read some of the gobbledy-gook I have suffered through, written by people with BS/BA or MS/MA degrees from some pretty good schools.

Does Word still have the "at this level" feature? I used to write, and have to dumb down stuff via Word. It had a "8th grade level" or whatever you were writing, feature. I found 8th grade limited my email replies that said "I don't understand what you are saying". I had to work my way down, until I found 8th grade was the sweet spot.

This was 15 years ago. Can't imagine how shiatty it is today. Kudo's on Michelle Obama for raising literacy, if only for one night.

It's true. I work in games localisation and testing and whenever I'm recruiting I tend to dismiss any applicants when the CV or covering letter has grammar or spelling mistakes. Particularly when they quote attention to detail as one of their skills or strengths.

worry not young morans. atrocious spelling, grammar, syntax and penmanship has been common in america for several decades. be thankful for Spell Check and sympathetic co-workers that help you fluff your way through life.

FTFA: "It's not their fault but that fundamental foundation is missing,"

First of all, if you're going to write an article about grammar, any mistake (like using comma instead of a period) will be noticed. And secondly, if it's "not their fault", whose farking fault is it?!

I have about zero patience for people who type with no punctuation, capital letters, or even breaks in the lines. Fortunately, I see this in business only rarely. But in personal life (Facebook), I see it all the time.

tomasso:The errors in the submission are orthographical, not grammatical.

(I guess you might argue that effect/affect may or may not be orthographical.)

Since they're incorrect words rather than incorrect spellings, I would think that "effect" and "you're" are diction (word choice) errors. It's not exactly grammar, but it's still important: all the significant US tests that include grammar--SAT, ACT, GMAT--are tests of grammar and usage.

CSB: Several years ago a student's mother sent me an email and asked me to "access" her daughter. I know a few different uses of "access," but none seemed to be things you'd ordinarily ask a 35-year-old man to do to your 16-year-old daughter.

FTA:"It's not their fault but that fundamental foundation is missing," she said.

Yes. Yes it is their fault.

It's not because they're unaware that they have a problem with this. Many will gleefully admit they're bad at it. Almost as many will quickly get defensive with such phrases as "you know what I meant," and "it doesn't really matter," and so on. When you're aware you have a shortcoming, you make an effort to fix it. If you fail to make that effort, then yes, you are at fault.

It's not because help is unavailable or even hard to access. English is often taught in night classes for folks who are trying to speak it as a second language. Couldn't hurt to take some of these. And even if you don't want to take advantage of what formal education systems have to offer, there's always reading and writing- as in: on your own. If you fail to make the effort to seek these solutions, you are also at fault.

FTA:"I think it has become one of these things; it's considered attention to detail where it should be part of the fundamental process."

In fact, about the only thing I can see in this equation that "isn't their fault" is that we keep letting people off easy for willfully neglecting their own language skills. That, and perhaps this:

FTA:Ms Johns agreed saying email was often the only form of communication employees had with clients and therefore it was important to make a good impression.

"You can be really well articulated offline, but if you can't translate that online then there's a gap," Ms Johns said.

Don't see it mentioned in the article at all, but a lack of passable keyboard skill (and not necessarily a weak understanding of written communication) can at least partly be the culprit here. I'm far from receptionist-fast myself, but there's a huge difference between 60 words per minute and watching my father take three seconds to find each key he wants to use on the keyboard.

People who struggle this badly to use the device through which they communicate tend to find shortcuts- shortcuts which result in sloppy product.

Sorry to those of you who place your self value in your ability to use proper grammar and punctuation, but this is an argument of the past.

Do you want people who can get things done, or people who use apostrophes correctly? Given the fact that there are only so many brain cycles in the day, what would you rather they focus their attention on?

Sure, if they have direct customer contact, its one thing, but then again, what would the CUSTOMER rather they be focusing on?

The time of Madmen is long dead, evolve or be left behind. Learn a skill that is actually used to further your company instead of one that is only used to elevate yourself above coworkers in your own mind.

I sound fat:Sorry to those of you who place your self value in your ability to use proper grammar and punctuation, but this is an argument of the past.

Do you want people who can get things done, or people who use apostrophes correctly? Given the fact that there are only so many brain cycles in the day, what would you rather they focus their attention on?

Sure, if they have direct customer contact, its one thing, but then again, what would the CUSTOMER rather they be focusing on?

The time of Madmen is long dead, evolve or be left behind. Learn a skill that is actually used to further your company instead of one that is only used to elevate yourself above coworkers in your own mind.

Do you know how much time is wasted due to writing that is poor and not precise?

Hypothetical example: Say my boss writes an e-mail to me that is not clear because of grammar or any other issue. I have to send an e-mail back to request a clarification. Then he has to write me back. Sometimes this repeats itself several times before I know what exactly he wants.

If the boss had taken the time to think about what exactly he wanted to say and then proofread the e-mail, then one e-mail would be all that I would need.

Plus, if you work for a service company -- like I work for a marketing and PR agency -- then one misspelling in a proposal can cause you to lose the potential client because it just makes you look like an idiot.

Good communication will always be in demand. I personally think many companies will need to hire armies of proofreaders and copy editors as more and more of the Facebook generation enters the workforce.

bostonguy:I sound fat: Sorry to those of you who place your self value in your ability to use proper grammar and punctuation, but this is an argument of the past.

Do you want people who can get things done, or people who use apostrophes correctly? Given the fact that there are only so many brain cycles in the day, what would you rather they focus their attention on?

Sure, if they have direct customer contact, its one thing, but then again, what would the CUSTOMER rather they be focusing on?

The time of Madmen is long dead, evolve or be left behind. Learn a skill that is actually used to further your company instead of one that is only used to elevate yourself above coworkers in your own mind.

Do you know how much time is wasted due to writing that is poor and not precise?

Hypothetical example: Say my boss writes an e-mail to me that is not clear because of grammar or any other issue. I have to send an e-mail back to request a clarification. Then he has to write me back. Sometimes this repeats itself several times before I know what exactly he wants.

If the boss had taken the time to think about what exactly he wanted to say and then proofread the e-mail, then one e-mail would be all that I would need.

Plus, if you work for a service company -- like I work for a marketing and PR agency -- then one misspelling in a proposal can cause you to lose the potential client because it just makes you look like an idiot.

Good communication will always be in demand. I personally think many companies will need to hire armies of proofreaders and copy editors as more and more of the Facebook generation enters the workforce.

/ former journalist and newspaper editor as well

I think you slashie might figure into your opinion a lot more than real world experience does.

As the globalization of business increases, you get used to a lot of people who barely SPEAK English, much less punctuate it perfectly. As you get more of the facebook generation in your workforce, the less patience they have for antiquated rules structures such as the proper use of hyphens.

Bottom line, is that every second you spend worrying about someone's grammar and punctuation is one second you are not competing with your competitors to be more efficient or be first to market.

If you are in a PR company or marketing, that is a whole different ball game. Most people are not. Most people actually PRODUCE things.

I personally do not consider a word to be misspelled if there is no way it can cause miscommunication. Same with bad punctuation.

Again, I know all of you that overvalue this skill put a lot of after school time into learning sentence structure and studying spelling lists while we were out fishing and chasing girls, and you feel bitter about it, but..... Neener.

Its really sad that todays employer's would rather worry about rediculous things like grammer which dont really effect a persons performance rather then worry about there employees willingness to be hard working and doing a good job!